Former Kenyan premier Raila Odinga, a key figure in African democracy efforts, dies at 80

NAIROBI, Kenya (AP) — Raila Odinga, a former prime minister of Kenya and perennial presidential candidate whose populist campaigns challenged one-party rule, rattled authorities and gave him outsized influence on political life in the East African country, died Wednesday of a heart attack while traveling in India. He was 80.

His death was confirmed by Devamatha Hospital in Kerala State, where he was taken after he collapsed during a morning walk. A hospital statement said Odinga didn’t respond to resuscitation efforts.

There were somber scenes at his home in the Kenyan capital, Nairobi, where mourners included national leaders. Tributes cited his commitment to democracy.

President William Ruto declared a seven-day mourning period during which national flags will fly at half-staff, calling Odinga's death an “immense and immeasurable loss.” Odinga will have a state funeral, Ruto said.

Odinga had recently signed a political pact with Ruto that saw his opposition party involved in government policy-making and its members appointed to the cabinet.

But his ambition was to become Kenya’s president, and he ran five times over three decades — sometimes with enough support that many believed he might win.

He came close to taking the presidency in 2007, when he narrowly lost to incumbent Mwai Kibaki in a disputed election marred by ethnic violence. And in 2017, a court nullified the presidential election — a first in Africa — after Odinga's challenge but he decided to boycott the fresh vote, asserting it wouldn't be credible without reforms.

Although Odinga never succeeded at becoming president, for many he was a revered figure and statesman whose activism helped steer Kenya into a vibrant multiparty democracy.

Odinga, a member of the Luo ethnic group in western Nyanza province, reached the peak of his political career in the 2007 presidential race, winning the support of leaders from other tribes and drawing massive crowds during campaign events.

Although Kibaki, of the Kikuyu ethnic group, had posted good economic figures in his first term, his government had been weakened by corruption scandals. The official results — Odinga’s 44% against Kibaki’s 46% — was the closest in Kenyan history.

Odinga’s camp rejected that result, provoked in part by an unreliable electoral authority whose leader said later that he did not know whether Kibaki had won.

Protests erupted in Nairobi almost immediately after Kibaki's inauguration, and violence spread to other parts of Kenya as people were targeted along ethnic lines: Luos and Kalenjins targeting Kikuyus, and Kikuyus mobilizing reprisal attacks.

Hundreds of people were killed in days of violence that shattered Kenya’s status as a stable democracy in a volatile region.

Although Odinga was never accused of inciting violence, others — including future presidents Ruto and Uhuru Kenyatta — were. They were among six suspects who faced criminal charges related to post-election violence when the International Criminal Court opened its investigation in 2010.

The case never yielded any successful prosecutions, with charges withdrawn, terminated or tossed out amid claims of witness intimidation and political interference.

After the turmoil, Odinga became prime minister in a unity government put together with the mediation of the international community.

Raila Amolo Odinga was born on Jan. 7, 1945, in Kisumu, a city on the shores of Lake Victoria near the border with Uganda.

The son of Jaramogi Oginga Odinga, Kenya’s first vice president, he attended local schools until he left to study engineering in East Germany. Upon returning in the 1970s, he taught at the University of Nairobi and started a range of businesses, including a successful one selling liquid petroleum gas cylinders.

Odinga first rose to prominence as a political activist fighting against the one-party rule of President Daniel arap Moi in the 1980s. He was linked to a failed coup plot by a group of air force officers who tried to take power in 1982.

Some of the coup leaders were convicted of treason and executed, and the names of Odinga and his father came up during interrogations of some suspects. Odinga was accused of treason, and though the charge was later dropped, he spent much of the next decade in detention.

Odinga described the harsh conditions of imprisonment and alleged torture, including an assault by a police officer who hit him with a wooden table leg. He insisted that while he had been involved in educating and mobilizing people to bring about change in Kenya at the time of the coup attempt, he had never advocated violence.

He briefly went into exile in Europe in 1991 after he was freed.

Odinga returned to Kenya in 1992 and won a seat in the national assembly as an opposition lawmaker representing a constituency in Nairobi, winning massive support among people disaffected by official corruption and poverty.

In 2001 he accepted a position in government as Moi’s energy minister, unsuccessfully angling for a ticket as the ruling party’s standard-bearer.

He was instrumental in the rise of Kibaki, an economist without a popular touch that he backed in the 2002 presidential race and who would be his rival in the disputed election of 2007.

Even as he grew older, appearing drowsy at campaign rallies, Odinga never seemed to lose his zest for politics, and even some of his rivals conceded that he was an excellent mobilizer.

In 2017, speaking on civil disobedience after he lost his fourth presidential campaign, Odinga told The Associated Press that street protests were a democratic measure permitted by the country's constitution.

“If a regime is undemocratic, if a regime does not enjoy legitimacy, the people are justified to resist that regime," he said.

Odinga’s last campaign for president was in 2022, when he was backed by the outgoing president, Kenyatta, in a race against Ruto. He lost again and went on to assert that he had been cheated of victory, and launched a wave of street protests.

Earlier in 2025, he lost a bid to become the executive head of the African Union Commission, the body that runs the continental African Union.

Odinga’s survivors include his wife, Ida.

Muhumuza contributed from Kampala, Uganda.

People react in the Kibera neighborhood of Nairobi, Kenya, to the death of Kenya former prime minister Raila Odinga Wednesday, Oct. 15, 2025. Odinga died of a heart attack in Indiaat the age of 80. (AP Photo/Andrew Kasuku)

People react in the Kibera neighborhood of Nairobi, Kenya, to the death of Kenya former prime minister Raila Odinga Wednesday, Oct. 15, 2025. Odinga died of a heart attack in Indiaat the age of 80. (AP Photo/Samson Otieno)

People react in the Kibera neighborhood of Nairobi, Kenya, to the death of Kenya former prime minister Raila Odinga Wednesday, Oct. 15, 2025. Odinga died of a heart attack in Indiaat the age of 80. (AP Photo/Andrew Kasuku)

People react in the Kibera neighborhood of Nairobi, Kenya, to the death of Kenya former prime minister Raila Odinga Wednesday, Oct. 15, 2025. Odinga died of a heart attack in Indiaat the age of 80. (AP Photo/Andrew Kasuku)

Former Kenyan Prime Minister Raila Odinga, center in blue, arrives at the Sreedhareeyam Ayurvedic hospital in Koothattukulam, Kerala, India, Friday, Oct.10, 2025. (AP Photo/Manu.K.S)

People walk outside the Sreedhareeyam Ayurvedic hospital in Koothattukulam, Kerala, India, where former Kenyan Prime Minister Raila Odinga, was undergoing treatment recently, Wednesday, Oct.15, 2025. (AP Photo)

FILE - Presidential candidate Raila Odinga arrives to attend Sunday mass in St. Francis church in Nairobi, Kenya, Aug. 14, 2022. (AP Photo/Mosa'ab Elshamy, File)

CHICAGO (AP) — José Ramírez homered and drove in three runs, and the Cleveland Guardians beat the Chicago White Sox 9-5 on Thursday night to send their AL Division Series to a winner-take-all Game 5.

Patrick Bailey also went deep and Game 2 starter Gavin Williams came out of the bullpen to get the last three outs as the Guardians won for the second consecutive day after beginning their postseason with two straight losses at home. Jo Adell hit a two-run single to cap a six-run sixth inning for the AL Central champions.

“This team has answered all year,” manager Stephen Vogt said. “We talk about it — we punch back.”

Cleveland is looking to become the first major league team to come back from a 2-0 deficit in a best-of-five playoff series since the 2017 New York Yankees accomplished the feat against, well, Cleveland. Teams with a 2-0 lead in a best-of-five postseason series have gone on to win 83 of 93 times.

Game 5 is back in Cleveland on Saturday night, and the winner will open the American League Championship Series at Tampa Bay next Monday.

“As we’ve battled back and forth with these guys, obviously fitting that it’s going to come down to this,” White Sox manager Will Venable said.

Chicago's bullpen — one of its biggest strengths in a surprising season — is suddenly looking very tired. Grant Taylor was hit hard after pitching 5 1/3 scoreless innings over the first two games of the series, allowing four runs and four hits without retiring any of the six batters he faced during Cleveland's rally in the sixth.

Miguel Vargas homered late for the White Sox, who flopped in their second straight bid to clinch a postseason series at home for the first time since the 1906 World Series against the Chicago Cubs. Sam Antonacci drove in two runs.

All-Star closer Cade Smith worked a scoreless eighth for the Guardians but then gave up Vargas' first postseason homer and a walk to start the ninth. He was replaced by Williams, who was making his first career relief appearance and could still start Game 5 as well.

The right-hander needed 18 pitches to get three outs after throwing 98 pitches on Monday. He was the seventh Guardians reliever as the teams combined to use 15 pitchers in a game that took 3 hours, 39 minutes.

Williams went 14-8 this season and led the AL with 248 strikeouts.

Cleveland trailed 2-0 before rallying in the fifth. Bailey led off with a pinch-hit homer, and Steven Kwan chased Erick Fedde with a one-out single.

Jordan Hicks came in and Ramírez drove a 99.9 mph fastball deep to right-center for just his second homer since Sept. 1, a span of 26 games. The seven-time All-Star had surgery after he broke a bone in his left hand on a swing June 13.

“It was José Ramírez being José Ramírez in the playoffs,” Vogt said. “Bring in a fastball, Hicks with a great fastball, and Josy got to it. To step up, say there he goes again.”

It was Ramírez's first postseason homer since 2024 and No. 5 overall. He also starred in Game 3, finishing with two hits and two RBIs in Cleveland's 9-3 victory.

“It was really special,” Ramírez said through a translator. “It was great energy out there, and very special to share this with the guys.”

Chicago responded with two runs in the bottom half, sending a charge through the crowd of 39,920. Antonacci was hit by a pitch from Tim Herrin with the bases loaded, and Brenton Doyle made it 4-3 with a sacrifice fly. The White Sox had the bases loaded with two down, but rookie Braden Montgomery struck out swinging against winning pitcher Erik Sabrowski.

Antonacci has been plunked 33 times this year, including a franchise-record 29 in the regular season. The rookie became the first player in postseason history to be hit by a pitch with the bases loaded multiple times in a career, after he was also plunked in the same situation in Game 3.

Losing pitcher Anthony Kay started the sixth for Chicago, but the left-hander was replaced by Taylor after Travis Bazzana's RBI double tied it at 4. Bailey greeted Taylor with a run-scoring single, and Cleveland started to pull away.

Walks by Brayan Rocchio and Kwan loaded the bases for Ramírez, who made it 6-4 with an infield single. Chase DeLauter added another run-scoring single before Adell capped the outburst with a liner to right that drove in Kwan and Ramírez.

“I feel like we’ve been impacting the baseball a lot better the last two games,” Bailey said. “Obviously, the more you see a certain guy, kind of not necessarily more comfortable, but you get to see that kind of shapes more and more. Definitely helps.”

Adell hit a three-run triple during Cleveland's Game 3 victory. He has four hits, three walks and six RBIs in the series.

See AP’s full MLB coverage here

Chicago White Sox players watch from the dugout during the ninth inning in Game 4 of baseball's American League Division Series against the Cleveland Guardians, Thursday, Oct. 8, 2026, in Chicago. (AP Photo/Nam Huh)

Chicago White Sox's Miguel Vargas watches his solo home run during the ninth inning in Game 4 of baseball's American League Division Series against the Cleveland Guardians, Thursday, Oct. 8, 2026, in Chicago. (AP Photo/Melissa Tamez)

Cleveland Guardians relief pitcher Gavin Williams delivers during the ninth inning in Game 4 of baseball's American League Division Series against the Chicago White Sox, Thursday, Oct. 8, 2026, in Chicago. (AP Photo/Nam Huh)

Cleveland Guardians' Jose Ramirez celebrates after hitting a 2-run home run during the fifth inning in Game 4 of baseball's American League Division Series against the Chicago White Sox, Thursday, Oct. 8, 2026, in Chicago. (AP Photo/Melissa Tamez)

Cleveland Guardians' Jose Ramirez hits a 2-run home run during the fifth inning in Game 4 of baseball's American League Division Series against the Chicago White Sox, Thursday, Oct. 8, 2026, in Chicago. (AP Photo/Melissa Tamez)